The two major reports on retail sales out of the American economy this afternoon painted a mixed picture. The core value of retail sales saw zero movement, with an actual reading of 0%, below forecasts for 0.1% growth. The value of nominal retail sales, however, revealed a somewhat different picture.
Nominal retail sales for July appear to have grown by 0.1%, beating forecasts which were expecting a contraction by 0.1%. Overall the data seems to cancel itself out and bear little weight on today’s currency markets. But the broader picture does seem to favor very weak growth in the US retail sector, which both supports mild steps towards riskier assets by investors and a call for another round of quantitative easing in the face of such economic reports.
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